Personal Researcher
Are you expecting your first child and need to figure out child care arrangements for going back to work? In many cases, you may need to get on day care wait lists 8 or more months in advance. Or maybe your child is already attending day care and you are less than satisfied. Is that normal? What are your other options?
Deciding on childcare
Good childcare takes many shapes and forms. There are a lot of differences besides price between in-home daycares, small and large daycare centers, nanny share, and nannies. If you aren’t sure which way to go, I’ll talk with you about your specific needs and your various options. We’ll discuss your priorities, family logistics and child rearing philosophy to figure out the best alternative. If you already know your direction, I can provide advice about how to do the necessary research and the questions you should ask to be sure you find a good fit.
Interviewing nannies
If you’d like help in interviewing nannies, I can narrow down the field. I will hold phone interviews with different nannies in your area, and provide you with a short list of finalists that will meet your time and price needs as well as your family priorities. I’ll talk to you about suggested interview questions for when you conduct your in-home interviews with the finalists. We can talk afterwards if you want to discuss the alternatives before deciding.
When you are interviewing, don’t “give away” the answer you want.
I was working with one family that wanted a nanny that would put the children in their cribs awake, without rocking them to sleep. The children were used to this. They would play, then fuss, then fall asleep. Mid-nap, they would often wake, fuss for a bit or just sit quietly for a few minutes, then go back to sleep.
During interviews, the parents would show the perspective nanny around, explaining where things were and how they would like things done. It was easy for the interviewee to say (and think herself), “Oh yes, I can do all this as you’re asking me.” However, after hiring their nanny, it became clear that the nanny’s underlying customs and beliefs came through. It went against this woman’s nature to not rock the boys to sleep and to refrain from going into the bedroom and take them out—even if they would have fallen back asleep within a few minutes.
The point is, don’t frame the interview as “Here’s what I want. Can you do that?” and “Here’s what I believe. Does that work for you?” Try to figure out what the interviewee’s beliefs and child raising customs are, and assess whether they are in-line with yours.
Ask open ended questions so it is unclear where you stand in the continuum and any answer could seem right. For instance:
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"Some people don't like to let the baby cry and other people are ok seeing if she can work it out on her own. Where do you fall in this continuum?"
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"Some people believe we should step back and let toddlers work out problems on their own and others think that it's our job to show them proper ways to handle disputes..."
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"Some people think it's best to follow the baby's lead as to when she's hungry or tired and others think it's best to guide her into a routine that the adults decide is best for her based on her age and temperament..."
Later, after you have found the best nanny, you can be clear about your expectations, knowing that they fall in-line with the nanny’s beliefs.
Nanny Work Agreement
Congratulations, you have decided on a nanny for your child. Your nanny’s interactions with your child are front and center, but let’s not forget the behind the scenes logistics that need to be put in place to ensure a successful relationship between your family and the nanny.
Your Nanny Work Agreement may not be a legal binding document, but if you write it correctly, and both sign it, it will lay out a clear understanding before you even get started. If things don’t go smoothly, you will be able to go back to the document for discussion.
Things you should cover include:
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Work schedule and compensation: Pay, overtime, sick time, vacation, taxes, contributions to SEP-IRA or health care?
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Safety: Child safety precautions, who your child can go in the car with, who the child can be released to, medical emergency protocols, …
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Privacy: Sharing of information, posting on social media
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Logistics: When nanny takes vacation, when nanny is sick, when your family takes vacation (without nanny), if you want to take a vacation with the nanny
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Expectations: Just child care? Clean house? Laundry (for family or just kids)? Meal prep (for family or just kids)?
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General house rules: For the nanny--smoking, screen time; for the kids—eating, sleeping, outdoor play, screen time, …
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Notice to quit: At will employee or year-long contract? How much notice?
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Health and safety: CPR, training certificates, vaccinations
Researching Day Cares
If you’d like the next level of help, I can take the knowledge of what your family is looking for and apply it to your area, researching the different daycares. I will interview the different centers to determine fit for your priorities, check availability and pricing, and develop a targeted customized list for you to visit.
Be careful of your stereotypes
I worked with one family that had the vision of an older, grandmother type nanny from France that would teach their children French. This is who they hired, but their child-rearing philosophies didn’t sync. Try to stay away from old vs. young, or identifying any one type. Think first of the qualities you want in a nanny, how you want them to act to reinforce your child rearing ideas, and open up your interview choices. Ask the same types of questions of every candidate, and invite the final few into your home to interact with your child. Ask open ended questions to find out how they really feel. And don’t forget to check references!
Helpful Ideas
Deciding on Childcare
Packages
First Pass - Search for Viable Childcare Options
$50/hour
Average 9-13 hours for daycares
Average 5 hours for the first 2-3 candidates
Average 2.5 week
turn-around
Schedule a phone conversation (about 45 minutes) to discuss your needs: hours, location, financial and desired environment. I'll bring up aspects you may not have considered to help me find optimal childcare for your family.
Prepay the first 4 hours ($200) for me to get started on the search.
DAYCARE
I'll get started right away finding all daycares within your search radius of your home/work, getting ahold of them and determining their waitlist status. Of the daycares that have space, I’ll scour their reviews, research their citations, talk to the owner, and gather information from their website. I’ll provide you with a spreadsheet of all the places I contacted (usually 25-40 daycares) and a detailed write-up on the viable options. I can usually find about 2-6 options of daycares that have space. We'll go over it together over the phone and talk about next steps.
NANNY
Using a variety of forums and websites (and sometimes great finds from previous searches), I find available candidates, vet them based on your criteria, and conduct a Facetime interview. With every 2-3 viable candidates, I email you a description of the candidates with my professional take on their strengths and potential concerns. You'll review and we'll determine next steps (calling the references, in-person interviews, or keep searching for more candidates).
Daycare Second Pass - Tour daycares
$50/hour
Average
2 hours/daycare
DAYCARE
I visit each daycare you are considering. I evaluate the daycare using my educational background and my experience as a past large daycare employee, a current owner of an in-home daycare and as a discerning mom.
I see not only what they present to each prospective family, but also pick up on more subtle clues. For example: How do they get the children's attention? Are the kids actually washing their hand appropriately before eating? How they address conflict between children? How do they engage a young baby during awake time?
I'll provide a written report and a follow-up discussion to help you make your final decision.
Nanny Add-On - Work Agreement
$150
Including our collaborative conversation
NANNY
I will work with you to develop a draft Nanny Work Agreement. It will include such topics as responsibilities and expectations for childcare and help around the house, vacation time, taxes, overtime, insurance or IRA contributions, health and safety, transportation, and confidentiality based on best practices and norms in the industry.
You will have this draft, as well as pertinent talking points that I provide, as you sit down with the nanny to finalize a document that works best for all of you.
Local Classes
$50/hour
Average 5-8 hours
Average 2.5 week
turn-around
In the LA area there are a wealth of classes and activities available for your little one. The benefits of these classes are numerous. They will learn and practice general skills such as socialization and proper behavior in a group dynamic that'll be needed in a school setting. There are also the specific benefits of the class whether it be body kinesthetics, challenging a different aspect of the brain, or simply the joy of laughter and having a blast doing what they love best.
We'll chat on the phone, or if you're short on time, you can just email pong.julia@gmail.com the answers to the questions below.
1) Home address or cross streets
2) Desired search radius in miles or minutes
3) Any COVID precautions notes/requirements
4) Time frames available (from leaving the house to having to be back home for meals and naps)
5) Do you want me to only find classes your child can attend now, or include classes for older age groups?
6) Any other pertinent info (like you really want this kind of class...or you really don't want something.)
Prepay the first 4 hours ($200) for me to get started on the search.
In about 2.5 weeks I'll email you a customized spreadsheet of classes, their location, distance from your home, their times, the age group, and other pertinent info. We can go over them together if you like. Pick the one that looks most enticing and let the fun begin!
